Brake beam with adjustable shoe



C. E. TACK BRAKE BEAM WITH ADJUSTABLE SHOE Filed May 17, 1951 Il', URN.'

State Carl E. Tack, Chicago, Ill., assigner to American Steel Foundries, Chicago, Iii., a corporation of New lIersey Application lie/lay 17, 1951, Serial No. 226,832

1 Claim. (Cl. 18E-222.6)

This invention relates to brake gear for railway cars and is more particularly concerned with the provision of a brake beam unit embodying means permitting selective multiple positioning of brake shoes thereon in order that the spacing between the brake shoes may be varied to correspond to Various track gauges such as, for example, a 561/2 inch or a 60 inch gauge.

It has heretofore been the practice ot' railway equipment manufacturers to provide brake beam units in which the spacing between the brake shoes is limited to and determined by a single track gauge, thereby requiring individual units for each track gauge, The present invention contemplates the provision of a brake beam unit in which brake heads are adapted to engage brake shoes at selected positions spaced longitudinally of the brake beam to thereby vary the spacing between the shoes.

This invention further contemplates the provision of a brake beam unit in which the brake heads are cast integral with the brake beam and formed with means arranged in side by side relation for the selective and detachable mounting of brake shoes.

T his invention further contemplates the provision of a multiple track gauge brake beam unit which may be formed of cast steel without a material increase in cost over the single track gauge brake beam units heretofore provided for railway cars.

This invention embodies other novel features, details of construction and arrangements of parts which are hereinafter set forth in the specication and claim and illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure l is a top plan view illustrating a brake beam unit embodying features of the present invention, only one end of the unit being shown as both ends are similar in construction and the medial portion of the brake bear'. may be of any conventional form.

Figure 2 is an end elevational view of same.

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of same.

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 4 4 of Figure 3, with a new brake shoe keyed to tls: brake head.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5 5 of Figure 4, illustrating a new brake shoe disposed adjacent the inboard side of a brake head to engage the wheel of a relatively narrow gauge wheel and axle assembly, and

Figure 6 is a sectional view, corresponding to Figure 5, showing the brake shoe disposed adjacent the outboard side of the brake head to engage the wheel of a relatively wide gauge wheel and axle assembly.

Referring now to the drawing for a better understanding of the present invention, the multiple track gauge brake beam unit is shown as comprising a brake beam 2 having a brake head 4 disposed adjacent each end thereof and preferably cast integral therewith. The brake beam may, however, be of either fabricated or cast steel construction with the brake heads either attached thereto or formed integral therewith as dictated by manufacturers and users of this type of equipment.

Each brake head 4 embodies an arcuate web 6 extending transversely of and engaged intermediate its ends to the brake beam 2 and reinforced by gussets 8 and 10. The front face of the web 6 is formed with an upper toe lug 12, a lower toe lug 14 and a pair of spaced center lugs 16 and 18, said lugs being formed and arranged for "arent O 2,707,534 Patented May 3, 1955 detachable engagement with a brake shoe 19 which may be of conventional form as illustrated. The upper toe lug 12 is formed with spaced key slots Ztl-20a; the lower toe lug is formed with similar spaced key slots 22-22a; and the center lugs 14 and 16 are formed with spaced key slots 24--24a and 26-26a, respectively. It will be noted that the key slots 20, 22, 24 and 26 are disposed in alignment adjacent the inboard side of the brake head 4 to receive an arcuate brake shoe key 28 adapted to secure the brake shoe 19 on the inboard side of the brake head, as illustrated in Figure 5. The slots 20c, 22a, 24a, and 26a are disposed in alignment adjacent the outboard edge of the brake head 4 to receive the brake shoe key 28 when the brake shoe is mounted upon the outboard side of the brake head, as illustrated in Figure 6. The adjacent opposing faces atl and 32 (Figure 4) of the center lugs 16 and 18 are formed to define an inwardly converging recess 34 to receive and engage a lug 36 formed on the brake shoe 1 9, the shoe lug being formed with a key aperture 38 to receive the shoe key 28.

As illustrated in Figure 5 in the drawings, the aperture 38 in the brake shoe lug 36 is adapted to be arranged in registry with the inboard set of key slots 20, 22, 24 and 26 to dispose the brake shoe 19 in its inboard position on its respective brake head 4, the shoe being secured in position by means of the shoe key 28 which extends through said aperture and slots in a manner well known in this art. The brake shoes are adapted to be arranged along the inboard sides of their respective brake heads in order that the spacing between the shoes may correspond to a relatively narrow track gauge such as, for example, a 561/2 inch track gauge. In this arrangement the shoe is engageable with a narrow gauge wheel 40 having a conventional flange 42. l

Figure 6 illustrates the manner in which a brake shoe 19 is adapted to be secured to the outboard side of its brake head by means of the shoe key 28 which extends through the key slots Ztla, 22a, 24a, 26a and the shoe lug aperture 38. The brake shoes are arranged on the outboard sides of their respective brake heads to correspond to a relatively wide track gauge such as, for example, a 60 inch track gauge.

It will be understood that if desired, the arrangement illustrated may be reversed so that the brake head cornprises a single set of key slots and the brake shoe comprises a double key slot to accommodate positioning of the shoe at either the inboard or outboard side of the head.

I claim:

In a multiple track gauge brake beam unit, a brake beam comprising a pair of brake heads fixed thereto at respective ends of the beam, each head having an arcuate concave front face for seating a brake shoe and having a pair of inboard and outboard spaced keyslots separated by a rib behind said front face, a pair of brake shoes, each shoe having a central aperture and an arcuate convex rear face complementary to and engaged with the related head face, the face of each shoe being approximately two thirds the width of the related head face and being seated therewith throughout the full width of the shoe face when the shoe aperture is registered with either slot of the related head, and key means extending through each shoe aperture and the related head slot whereby each shoe may be selectively secured to its head with the center of its face at inboard or outboard side of the rib to adjust the unit to various track gauges.

References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 20,779 Garand July 5, l938 262,488 Shelton Aug. 8, 1882 305,271 Bemis Sept. 16, 1884 FOREIGN PATENTS 4,116 Great Britain Apr. l, 1885 

